Today was a rainy dreary day. Little chance to be outside. This afternoon we met with Daisy and Lino. Daisy was very pleased with our progress and will meet with us on Monday for the last time. Tomorrow is a big holiday here in Brazil. We have to move to a different place for 3 nights. It is only a couple hundred yards away. We will pack just enough clothes and necessities to take with us and store the rest here at Betania. This will mean a different routine for the kids... hope they adjust well. Rebekah is slowly feeling better. Today's weather probably didn't help. Today at lunch "I hit the wall". That is an expression Rebekah and I use when all of a sudden you get very sleepy and wish you could go to bed. I haven't had that since I have been here. Maybe I have relaxed enough to have it happen. I have been to Brazil 2 other times, but this time it is different. I finally realized what it was. I was experiencing the Brazilian culture. The other trips I was on a missions trip with other Americans and we had sporadic exposure to the culture. This time we are around very few Americans and completely surrounded by Brazilians and their daily lives. I have had several interesting discussions with people. The following is a Public Service Announcement (PSA) brought to you by Rebekah. "We have received several blog responses and we have tried to reply but we aren't able. If you send us a message to our e-mail address... drmowry@juno.com we can reply to you. Thanks and we hope to hear from several of you." Now it is time for me (Dave) to hit the "hay".

Laundry...Royalty...Laundry. I'll explain in a few minutes. First an update on Rebekah. This "virus" is hard to pin down. It has given her sinus congestion, chills, aches, and in the night and this morning a very bad headache. She was feeling discouraged. When she lays down in bed her head hurts more. So staying in bed wasn't an option in her mind. So off to breakfast we went. After breakfast we found our laundry all cleaned thanks to Karla and Monica. I then took the kids outside when Monica drove up and asked if she could take us to the Betania Hotel outside of town. She is the manager there. She said she would provide a room for Rebekah to rest in and I could keep the kids occupied at their playground and indoor heated pool. I told her I would go ask Rebekah... just then Rebekah came walking up. I said Monica wanted to ask her something. In a few minutes we had planned to leave in half an hour. The hotel is out in the country and is in a beautiful setting. Trails, pond with a raft, playground, indoor pool, children's playroom, 2 restaurants. Monica showed us around then gave us a room for Rebekah and a room for the rest for us. I took the kids to play and caught up with Rebekah at lunch time. We basically were treated like royalty. After lunch Monica had someone watch the kids and Rebekah and I took a walk. Then it was to the pool. I don't know if the kids had been in a pool before. Wellington wasn't afraid to go underwater but I don't think the others had put their heads underwater before. But by the time we were finished everyone had... even Gabe. He didn't like to be with Rebekah in the water to begin with. He was with me most of the time. Rebekah said he probably felt safer with me. That's funny as I was the one to get him to underwater. He did fine. I just told him I was baptising him... just kidding. After that Monica had more food for us to eat and then it was time to head back. It was great medicine for Rebekah. We were out in the country and she felt like she was getting fresh air for the first time since we arrived. I think it would be very difficult for us to move to a city. We love the country. Rebekah is starting to feel better. When we got back Monica said she wanted the laundry from yesterday. She never stops being a blessing. I saw Berto and told him that he better keep her. He just laughed. Monica explained more of Bertania to us. It is a mission and not a company. They have the hotel in the country and next to each other in town is the Retreat Center and the elementary school. With the "profits" they support around 400 children. They tell us that they want to bless us because we are blessing the 4 children by adoption. I literally do not know what we would do without the people here. I think I sound like a broken record... oh that's right they don't make records anymore... well most of you that are of that era know what I mean (right Frank Gorsline). I would be good advertising for them if any of you lived close enough to stay here. When we got upstairs there was our supper waiting in the kitchenette. (Thanks Luci) What more can I say about the people here. Why God chooses to bless me, I'll never really know and understand. Some will say "you are adopting 4 children, God has to bless you". Living in obedience doesn't guarantee this amount of blessing. As I said before, I don't know where we would be without it. (Maybe) God knows we need it at this time. Rebekah is going to share now.
Dave

My heart is so full tonight I don't know where to begin! God never ceases to amaze me and I want to never cease to praise Him! We have been blessed beyond measure here--over and over again!! I prayed before coming that my health would not be an issue on this trip as it is so often. That first week when Gabe was so sick I was his constant nose-wiper, holder, nurse--you moms know the rest. I guess he shared it with me and the rest is history. David has mentioned the cold to you. No break, since the buildings are not heated. I did not pack for such. Over and over I was brought hot "cha" (that's tea) and more warm clothes and blankets. David was given aid with the children so I could rest. But it was literally to painful to rest. Today we were taken to the country for the first time!!! What an absolute refreshment to the spirit and body!! I didn't realize just how cold I'd become--all the way through! I don't know how people do city life. For the first time in 3 weeks I realized I hadn't heard the voice of my Lord in the gentle breeze, the softness of the hills and trees. I was overwhelmed with the goodness of the Lord to care about our spirit's rest and refreshment in this intense time with these children. How easy it is to overlook when we get caught up in our responsibilities to them 24/7. My mother's heart yearns for my children back home too and I long to hold them, love them and hear their voices. Our dear friend, Monica sensed all of these things and felt we needed the break from the city to be refreshed and rejuvenated. What an unbelievable blessing she has been. I love how God answers prayers before we even pray them or know how to pray! Thank you God!
I want to thank my children at home for being willing to sacrifice their "Mom and Dad moments"--you know, the play times, vacation time, summer swim time, talk time and night time back rubs so that we can learn to love the unloved and share our hearts with them. Thank you from the children that tonight got to sing "Jesus Loves Me", got to jump in the pool to "Pai"--for the first time, get to learn John 3:16 and get their backs rubbed as they fall to sleep. Thank you my children for sharing Jesus with these precious little ones who soon will be home and part of you. We love you! God is good and our prayers are with you all. Thank you all who have been so faithful to pray on our behalf!!! You have no idea the impact your prayers are having here in Brazil tonight. You are a BLESSING! THANK YOU!!!
Rebekah

Today was the longest 2 weeks of my life!! I think I stole that line from a very wise person... me a week or so ago on the blog. That's when Rebekah took Gabe to the hospital. Now for today's update.... When we left off at our last episode Rebekah had forgotten her passport so Karla brought her back to get it. Rebekah caught up with me on her way out and told me it would be a long day as the lines were endless... not what I needed to hear. A quick rabbit trail about socialized medicine. I don't care what political party you align yourself with... but if you want the government controlling health care... you will curse the day that you supported it unless you are rich. The poor have to wait in long lines as it is FREE. The rich go to a different area and don't wait nearly as long. We have been told the care will be similar. Do you believe that?? I wish one million people could read this and would stand up for the middle and lower class when the government tries to take control of health care. I could say more but this is not the place. Back to our episode. As Rebekah went back to the car, Karla was speaking with Monica (Berto's wife). Monica said that her sister is a Dr and was at Betania. She sent her sister up to our room to look at Rebekah. She concluded the antibiotic she was taking was fine but Rebekah needed bed rest, warmth, bed rest, more liquids, and bed rest. You get the picture. So guess what dad did all day. The children will be great in the armed services as they have excellent military minds... divide and conquer!! Literally! Some... probably all of you are laughing, but not me. I'm in the middle of this, and don't forget about Rebekah, she is in bed. Let me see. Feel lousy, chilled, lay in bed and rest/sleep. Or coral kids, try to occupy, learn Portuguese, count the minutes till the next meal. I won't give you an answer as it is a tough one. It wasn't as bad as I might make it sound. Karla and Monica went and brought back a care package for Rebekah. Warmer clothes, juices, etc. As I have said before, everyone here is such a blessing. Lino came after 3:30 for his Monday visit/check-in with us. He was concerned about Rebekah. Lino and I took the kids to Lar Rigote. It is a couple of hundred yards from Betania. There is a big holiday this Thurs - Sunday and Betania had all the rooms booked before we made our reservation... so we have to move out for 3 nights. (Thurs-Sat) We leave Thurs morning and return Sunday mid-afternoon. We will stay at Lar Rigote during this time. After that we returned for dinner. Luci had sent food up to the kitchenette for us. Karla stayed to help me serve dinner to the kids. Kevin also stopped in with some good bread. As a review, Kevin and Karla Boot are missionaries with CCI. They have been a great encouragement to us. They are in the process of adopting... please pray for them! It is refreshing to talk with them. I also forgot to say that Monica and Karla divided up our laundry and took it home to wash. God's blessings are overwhelming. Before we came I prayed that God would help us in all the things that we had no idea we would need. He has answered it in a HUGE way with the faithful Brazilian people here. Saying thanks to these dear people sounds so cheap. Which leads me to ask myself, When I say "thank you" to God, does it sound insincere, rushed, or mundane? I don't know how many times I have said "thank you" the last couple of days, but it doesn't seem like I have said it enough. Do we thank God enough with heart felt praise? Is He pleased with our thanksgiving? Do we recognize half of His blessings? I probably do not. Rebekah is in bed and I need to do a few things before I turn in. Sometimes I feel selfish when I ask for prayer as there are so many other people to pray for. Thank you Lord for your goodness!
Dave

Just a quick update this morning. Rebekah is on here way to see a Dr. We asked Karla to take her. She said they may want to test for swine flu as they are very guarded about that down here. Hopefully they will not go overboard on test and just diagnose the problem. Will take any and all prayers on her behalf. Yes... I have all the kids with me.
Dave

UPDATE UPDATE
I have wanted to update since this morning... but I have had the children. Karla took Rebekah to the hospital. When they got there Rebekah discovered she forgot her passport. They came back to get it. Rebekah said it would be a long day as the lines at the hospital where endless... socialized medicine... YOU DO NOT WANT IT AMERICA. But right before they left.... I'll fill in the details later... sounds like a soap opera. She stayed here and is slowly feeling better, we think. Keep Praying.

I Want A Banana! I will get to that later. Today was our third Sunday away from home but we were able to go to church. Rebekah was still feeling bad but she wanted a change of scenery so we went. Yuri and Carol picked us up. They are a Brazilian couple that live close by. Carol works at Betania and eats lunch with the kids and us as often as she is able. Both have spent time in the US and speak English well. Yuri spent a year in Utah and Carol spent 6 months in Farmington Hills, MI... during the winter. Their church (Baptist) has Portuguese and English services. Yuri asked if we believed the same as the Baptist... I said "close... but unlike the Baptists we believe in Jesus"... just kidding. They have Sunday School in Portuguese for the kids and we went to the English service. When we went to pick up the kids the first thing Wellington wanted to know is when can we do this again... well I think it will be next Sunday. After the service we all came back to Betania and Yuri and Carol had lunch with us. Of course Yuri and I talked about the economy and politics. I concluded it with... Jesus didn't come to change the Roman government but He did come to change the hearts of man. We are hoping and planning to get together again. When we return home they are an example of why we will miss Brazil. Oh... before I forget again... the lady who watched over us like a mother hen last night... her name is Luci. She is a God send and blessing to us. This afternoon Kevin Boot called and invited us to his church this evening. We decided to lay low and see if Rebekah can feel better. Hoping to try it next Sunday evening... his church is Portuguese. Which brings us to "I want a banana". Since the groups left after lunch we eat our dinner in the little kitchenette on our floor. We got some things from the main kitchen and I got some more from a grocery store. We had just started to get some food out when one of the kids said "I want a banana" in English. You might think that this is a good thing. However, all day we could see an episode coming. Sometimes you can "head it off at the pass" and other times you just have to let it come to you. Well it came. While holding a banana the pouting fit and crying started... apparently that banana wasn't good enough so they wanted another one. So I picked up the kid and went to our room where I sat them down on their bed and for the next 20 minutes I heard over and over and over again, "I want a banana!!" (literally over 100 times) So I was glad to hear them speak English... but not like this. Finally after being quiet and being sorry... I think it was heart felt... we went to eat a banana. The thing is I had something else they liked even more waiting for them as a surprise. They were very glad when they got it. How often do we tell God what we want. We may ask for it dozens of times. But do we ask in the right way? When I was dealing with the situation the child had one thing on their mind... a banana. But I wanted their attention to be on me not a thing that is extremely temporary and only satisfies the flesh for a short time. I wanted to show them something more. When we ask God for some "thing", is our mind on the "thing" or on God. How often I am short-sighted for some "want" of mine when God just "wants" us to "want" Him. He has far better things in store for us if we will relinquish "our" desires to "His" desires. For me, this is much easier said than done. I have such a long way to go. The pictures today are of the house we visited on Friday and the man from Betania with his 1-string instrument. Please keep praying for Rebekah. If she is not improving by tomorrow... it will be a trip to a Dr or hospital.
Dave

I had planned on dedicating a good part of today's news on Lar Betania... more specifically the people here at the retreat center. And as the day has turned out, it is very appropriate to do so. We were looking forward to today as it was sunny (not as warm as Fri) and we could use the playground. Rebekah woke up not feeling any better so after breakfast we called Kevin Boot to see if we could somehow get an antibiotic prescription. He gave us a suggestion. Just as we were about to walk to the Pharmacy we stopped at the front desk to ask Flavia (she knows quite a bit of English) how to say the antibiotic in Portuguese. She suggested that she go with us to help translate... in fact she said it would be easier if she just drove Rebekah there and I could stay with the kids at the playground. They were back shortly and Rebekah had gotten Zithremax (spelling), the stuff you take for 5 days. So we hoped that would take care of it for Rebekah... even though she may not feel much better till tomorrow. During the kids rest time, Rebekah had a great English lesson with the children. We can really see things starting to click in their minds. The day went well and about mid-afternoon I asked Robert (Berto) for directions to Wal Mart as we were running low on diapers and a few other things. He said if we could wait till 5:00 he would drive us as it is 6 kilometers away (about 4 miles each way). So he took us and I believe that was the first time the children had been in a Wal Mart. Rebekah still hadn't felt much better. She is completely congested and can't breath thru her nose, ears plugged... you may know the feeling. When we got back from the store it was about time for dinner. Rebekah just wanted to lay down so I took the kids. Then it hit... the 1 or 2 steps back after taking 2 steps forward during their rest time. They had been wound up a bit since Wal Mart but now it really hit. There was a large group of people waiting for dinner and the kids were yelling and running down the hall to the dining room. I stopped them enough to ask them to wash their hands. However the girls thought it would be great to wash their hands in the boys bathroom. I stopped them before they got in. We were starting to create a commotion so I marched them back up stairs. Rebekah got up as I was trying to explain to them to be quiet and calm... no running or yelling. Just then someone knocked at the door. It was the lady who I believe is in charge of the kitchen and dining room. She doesn't speak English but I used the Portuguese/English dictionary to explain. I think she saw us outside the dining room. (They had asked us to eat before the others as there is such a large group here.) She must have seen us leave to go back upstairs thinking we couldn't eat then. Anyway she understood and explained to the kids to be quiet and calm. She also could see Rebekah wasn't feeling well. (For lunch she made some special tea for Rebekah). She helped me march the kids to the table and stayed close by while we ate. Rebekah joined us briefly but went back to the room to lay down. The lady went up to check on her and came back and motioned that Rebekah was laying down. She then went and got a girl, Sue Ellen (about 17 to 19 years old) to help at the table. When the kids were finished she took them and kept them occupied while I went to check on Rebekah. Then the lady came in with steaming water and Vicks vapor rub and towels. After I got Rebekah settled I went and got the 2 boys and got their showers. Then Sue Ellen came up and gave the girls their showers and got them dressed for bed. Now this is just one day... not that we have needed that much help in a day since we have been here but you get the idea. The cooks look out for us when there is no dinner planned... they take food up to a kitchenette on our floor, the ladies in housekeeping do different things to make the rooms nice, the office people give the kids treats.. in fact the kids make their rounds. They know where to go to get stuff they want. The ladies in laundry will put in our next load if the washer finishes and we aren't there to start the next load....etc....etc. We have been so blessed by the wonderful people here. I tell them I hope we are not a burden to them. They tell us that they want to bless us for what we are doing for the children. I do know that they do not make any profit from our staying here so it truly is a ministry outreach for them. I will be glad to be home but I will miss the dear Christian brothers and sisters here. When we all get to heaven it will be great to rejoice and praise God together with them. If they knew I was writing a blog about them, they would probably be embarrassed and say they are not doing that much. I know differently and so does God. God Bless them and you. Please pray for Rebekah. The pictures are of Lar Bentania. I will add more in the coming days.
Dave

Friday was another blue sky day and it was warmer. I could actually be outside with short sleeves. This morning I met with Luis, he is the pastor who lives in Rio and we will be staying at his home. His wife and 2 children will stay at his mother-in-law's home. He said she lives alone and likes it when she and the 2 children stay there. He said he would have to rent a car as his only seats 5. I told him that would be a good idea as not only would there be 7 people in the car but we had luggage. His eyes got big as I think he forgot about the luggage. I hope we make the connection ok with him. He said he would meet us by the exit doors. He said it is a very large airport. One thing I will try to do is see if United Airlines will (have room and not raise the price price too high) be able to get us on a flight Fri night instead of Sun night. When we made the airline reservations they jacked the price high as we would arrive on July 4th a holiday. They said fly back on Sun and price was lower... so we booked it that way. I'm hoping that United Air will let us change without raising the price too much. Pray they will be flexible with us. Friday afternoon a Christian couple living here for a couple of months, invited us to see their home they are building. They have been building it for about 16 months and hope to be in it in August. It was in a gated community that was beautiful. They use a lot of cement here and little wood because of termites. I don't think Orkin or Terminex could stay in business. The house was 440 square meters (I think that is about 4,000 square feet... help me math majors... Dave C and Karen M). It was a great house with a wonderful view of a small lake and an excellent design. Not many Brazilians can build a home like it. Friday evening we went to Kevin and Karla's home to use an International Phone. Rebekah called our neice, Julane Foster, who by the time you read this will be Julane McCarrell. She is marrying Jonathan McCarrell an excellent young man. His father is Rich McCarrell... who married Rebekah and I. Pray for them as they begin their journey together. Friday night saw a large group of people coming in for the weekend. It will be ok as we can use the playground to occupy the children. Wellington is working very hard to learn English and Lidiane will start to work more if she feels Wellington may be learning more than her... a little competitiveness never hurts. I have been writing this post since Fri night. I'll put this up and then start on Saturday's. There's too much for one post.